Sitting close to the banks of the River Ribble, the small village of Warton is flanked by the old industrial towns of Preston and Blackpool – one famous for tourism, the other cotton.
During the Second World War, the site was used as an aerodrome by the US Air Force. It was bought by English Electric in 1947, which then merged with the British Aircraft Corporation. Through privatisation, it became British Aerospace (BAE).
Though much of the area suffered industrial decline in the post war years, the development of the BAE Systems plant provided a lifeline for many, offering not only steady employment but also a career.
The site has been used as a test ground for various aircraft, including the Canberra and the Lightening. More recently it was used as the development base for the Eurofighter.
Tuesday’s announcement by BAE that it was to shed almost 3,000 jobs has left many employees with an uncertain future. Of those losses, 822 are to be made from BAE Warton.
Speaking to The Huffington Post UK, 26-year-old Alan (name withheld), an aircraft fitter at the Warton plant said he wasn’t surprised by today’s announcement. “We knew it [redundancy] was coming. We were told months ago that there was going to be cuts. I had a good idea it was going to be a big one.”
Alan, who lives locally, has been at BAE for eight years, staring off as an apprentice.
“Yesterday the managers came round and told us there was going to be a meeting today,” he said. “It was then put on the intranet at work. So we went into the meeting this morning, which lasted about fifteen minutes. The management just went through the numbers. To be honest, the numbers had already been leaked last night. The press seemed to know before we did.”
“They told us 822 were going, but not who. There’s only about six and a half thousand at the Warton plant, so a lot of people are losing there jobs.”
Alan said some people were shocked by the high number but not much anger.
“My understanding is that the company will now ask for volunteers for redundancy. They pay good money at BAE, so it’s likely that a lot of the older people will go, especially after they’ve been there for a few years. After that, it’ll be compulsory.
“This will affect the local area – the only other big company around here that pays the same wages is BNFL. But it’s not just people from Warton, Freckleton and Preston that’ll suffer. I know people who come in from places like Manchester, Runcorn, even Wales.”
“My take on it is, unless I’m told I’m going I’m not going to worry about it. I won’t take voluntary… but we’ll see what happens.”